Someone to Protect
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: This isn't actually a Spider-man/Oc story, though they do seem to have a nice relationship. this story is actually a Black Bolt/OC fic. not really great at summery- but hopefully the story will rock. so please R&R k.
1. Chapter 1

**Yo everyone, this is baby-kitsune9 here-**

 **So my love of a specific marvel universe and it's hero's has _finally_ spawned an Ultimate Spider-Man based fic _with_ our very special favorite web slinger. **

**However it isn't really a story that is meant to revolve around him but rather a little bit about his relationship with the person (little bit of a story spoiler here) who gave him some of her powers due to the potential the OC saw that he had as a hero.**

 **Not only that but in the story, the girl also trained him for a while. Then during the alien siege on NY, was gravely injured but after so long is more than half way healed when Spidey decides to send her on a little vacation in the mountains.**

 **And since there aren't many that he would trust with someone so important to him- he has brought in the Inhumans.**

 **More specifically- King Black Bolt since this will be a Black Bolt/OC fic.**

 **So, here's hoping that the fic rocks as much on site as it does in my mind. Please- review but do so constructively. I do not allow flames, haters, or asses.**

 **Enjoy.**

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 _Eerie neon blue eyes stared down at the transmitter in his large hand as he ran his fingertips along the device thoughtfully for a moment before pressing the 'play' button and then sat back as an image of someone in a red and navy blue webbed suit appeared._

 _"Um...hi there- Hold on, is this thing really on?" The image of one of the few human's he and the rest of the royal family of Attilan, the young man known only to them as Spider-Man asked someone off to his left without turning his head._

 _Instead the teen was just sitting there where he had appeared in a nice comfy chair, at the beginning of his message- in painfully, awkward silence as the person he had asked his question to responded from somewhere off screen._

 _The only indication that Spider-man gave that he had heard was a brief change in his voice before he cleared his throat and looked back at what Black Bolt could only assume was the recording device before him and slowly began speaking again._

 _"I-It is?! Really? Uh...c-could I start my message over again?"_ _The red clad youth asked as he pointed to the recorder when a hand came out of nowhere and smacked his sharply causing him to yelp and rub his hand and he cast a quick glare in the direction of the person who had smacked his hand._

 _"Ouch! Fine, I'll get on with it. But no secret Santa for you this year! This year your getting coal!" Spider-man growled out as he shook a fist at someone before resuming what Black Bolt could only hope would either be a nice message from his friend, checking in as he so often did when he had nothing else to do, or even better- a possible comedy routine._

 _God knew that the king needed a good laugh or two after the month he'd been having._

 _However his hopes were dashed once his young human friend managed to finally settle himself down in his seat again and suddenly got serious._

 _"I'm sorry if my message is keeping you from something important- or possibly disturbing your peace," Black Bolt tipped his head slightly to the side in a curious gesture. A small frown marring his handsome face as he regarded the image of his friend._

 _He would never understand why Spider-man always apologized for keeping in touch as much as he did. Why if anything Black Bolt tended to drop everything he was working on just to listen to his young friend's messages whenever he got them._

 _The reason behind his actions was because it reminded him much of passing notes back and forth during school with a close and dear friend. One's favorite conspirator. Yes, that was what Spider-man was to him. Not just a close and dear friend, but a fellow conspirator for mischief._

 _But that was neither here nor there since he was able to detect slight alterations to the young man's voice that belied his somewhat calm façade as he took a moment to continue speaking. "I would have contacted you sooner, but I needed to plan ahead just in case... Last month New York almost fell to alien invaders. We won the fight thanks to the Avenger's, but a close friend of mine was badly injured trying to save some people and for a while there- no one was sure if she was going to make it."_

 _Black Bolt looked upon the image with sad eyes._

 _No one understood the pain of losing someone better than he. He had lost much just this year alone. His brother, several of his cousins, even five of his friends had fallen during a siege upon his kingdom. "But she did," His friend went on to say after taking a shuddering breath. "She did and she's okay for now... and that's part of the reason I felt I should send this message. I have a favor to ask... And it's kind of a big one so I would understand if you didn't want to do it, but there are so very few people I would trust with this. I-I just don't know what else to do."_

 _Black Bolt leaned forward a little bit on his throne and listened intently as his young friend told him things that he doubted anyone else among Spider-man's friends back in New York, knew._ _He felt somewhat flattered at being so very trusted by his young friend._

 _Trusted enough to be told of Spider-man's origins and the part the person he had been speaking of before played in them._

 _Who knew that a female would have passed on some of her power to the boy and then trained him in how to use them- all due to the potential she had seen upon meeting him._

 _Destiny was funny in that regard he guessed._

 _Gods knew that he certainly wouldn't have pegged a mere female as someone willing to part with such strength as he'd already seen in the young man time and again. Especially since a majority of the females that he dealt with only wanted to gain his favor._

 _They were cold and calculating and good for little more than to sate his biological urges on before he sent them on their way. Hopefully never to see them again._

 _And spider-man had been right about his favor, it was a big one. One that under normal circumstances would make the king cut ties and hide himself and his people away in an even more brilliantly made hidey-hole. However after all the times Spider-man had helped him and his family and his people, it felt wrong to simply turn his back on the lad._

 _Especially now that he understood the nature of his favor._

 _He would have to send Lockjaw to the lad's location shortly with his reply if Spider-man's plans were to fall neatly into place. And of course this would give him time to prepare for his guest._


	2. Chapter 2

One week to the day he had received the message from his friend, Black Bolt found himself standing outside of his hidden kingdom as he had promised, watching as Spider-man's Shield issued jet landed and his young friend came strolling down the small built in ramp carrying a large heavy looking black and royal blue back pack with a small, almost waif-like young woman close behind him.

"Black Bolt, hey!" Spider-man greeted as he stopped walking just shy of reaching the king of the inhuman's. "How are you?" The teen asked in a slightly quiet and subdued tone.

Black Bolt responded with a small display of sign language that he had learned almost ten years ago when he had lived among the humans for a while. _"I am well. How are you, my friend?"_

"I'm good. A little bit worried about how this will turn out," The teen confessed as he set the large back pack down on the snow covered ground. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that your willing to-" He stopped speaking so that he could take a moment to locate his travel companion before going on. "Take care of her for me. I don't know how long her presence here will be necessary, but I've tried to school her on what is and isn't allowed within your home. But she's used to being free to do whatever she wants so that may conflict with what I've taught her about you and your people."

 _"I understand. I will take the necessary measures."_

"Thanks. Also I have her thinking that she's here on a mission to act as an ambassador or liaison for both of our races. Think you can manage to go along with it? It was basically the only way I could get her on the jet shy of actually kidnapping her, and that would have ended badly... For me at least."

Again Black Bolt signed an affirmative.

He didn't mind letting his guest feel useful during her stay with his people if that was what she wished. Besides, he would essentially have final say in any ideas she may come up with- so no harm done there.

"Thanks again, Black Bolt." Spider-man said again before turning to wave over his companion whom had been a little bit preoccupied before with just looking around the mountain where Black Bolt's hidden kingdom and his people had called home for thousands of years.

Walking over slowly, Black Bolt noted that the small female carried herself with a strange lack of confidence. In fact the way she carried herself bordered on weary wariness.

 _Odd._ He thought to himself as she came to a stop next to his friend as Spider-man placed a hand on one of her slumped shoulders and introduced them.

"Black Bolt, this is Haruka Night. Haruka, this is king Black Bolt. He's the person your going to be working under until I come back to pick you up." Spider-man chirped in an enthusiastic tone as he looked from Black Bolt to Haruka over and over again hoping that someone would say or do something when Haruka finally turned to him and without any warning whatsoever gave him a quick jab to the throat, which was just one of the may, many ways she tended to show him her displeasure with him, dropping him like a damned rock.

Black Bolt watched the interaction with some concern as his young friend fell to the ground choking as the young woman leaned down and picked up her bag and then straightened her spine. The hood of her jacket falling away to reveal her appearance to him for the first time.

She was rather lovely for a human female.

Heart shaped face, porcelain white skin, long thick jet black hair that fell just a little ways past the middle of her waist, soft pink lips, and her eyes- Gods those eyes of hers were by far one of the most interesting features she had. Wide in shape, surrounded by a dark fringe of long black lashes, and the color... The color was unnatural, he knew that much about humans.

After all no human had eyes so prettily colored.

Black Bolt found himself holding his breath as those beautiful eyes of hers locked with his own neon blue peepers for a moment before she looked away. Giving him a chance to start breathing normally again as he continued looking her over.

She was small- or rather the proper word was short, the top of her head would probably barely reach his chest. And while there was nothing wrong with that initially, her size coupled with how frighteningly frail she appeared underneath her clothing was a matter of some concern to him.

She was thin. Terribly so for someone her age and height.

Her body barely held any of the curves that other women would have at this point in their lives.

It was around this time that he finally seemed to notice that his young friend had finally stopped choking and was back on his feet again watching the two of them look each other over in a weirdly curious way. Almost as if he was trying to calculate how the two would deal with each other once he was gone.

Signing, " _Why is Haruka so thin?"_ To his friend, he waited a few seconds for Spider-man to reply.

"Uh, she's not been very hungry lately. So she hasn't really been eating anything."

Haruka turned her head to glare at him for a moment before balling her small hands into fists, which caused Spider-man to take several very fast, automatic steps back away from her as he said defensively. "What?! He asked why you were so thin, I was only answering him."

"Whatever brat. Just hurry up and leave already."

"Can't. First I need you to promise not to do anything weird while I'm gone."

Black Bolt cocked his head to the side a little bit as he listened to his friend's words. The words, 'do' and 'weird' stood out in his mind making him wonder just what Spider-man was hinting at when the teen pulled a folded piece of paper from somewhere on his person and unfolded it and began to tick off a list of sorts.

"No bear hunting. Or wrestling. No chasing after poachers. No setting the trees or the palace or anything else on fire to smoke someone out if you get mad-" Black Bolt blinked and looked away from his friend to Haruka. His neon blue eyes staring unblinkingly at the small female. "Remember to eat something at least three times daily. Drink plenty of water or juice. Stay away from alcohol of _any_ kind. Take your pain meds as directed. Get at least nine hours of sleep daily- not thirty minutes daily like you usually do-"

"And don't bother trying to lie to me about how much rest you do or don't get. I know you. I know about the nightmares, the insomnia and everything else so just do as your told. Don't try working yourself too hard, and try to relax and have some fun. Black Bolt and his people are really cool to be around. Get to know them instead of locking yourself in your room until I come back. But most of all, stay out of trouble. Okay Haruka?"

"Whatever, just go away. Your voice is giving me a headache."

Spider-man snorted at that and moved over to the female and gave her a quick hug before stepping back and waving at Black Bolt and then quietly made his way back to the jet.

Leaving the king alone with the small human now under his protection.


	3. Chapter 3

The moment the jet was in the air, Black Bolt reached out and grasped the young woman's jacket sleeve between his fingers and gave a very subtle, light tug to get her attention. Once he had it, he released her sleeve and motioned with his head for her to follow him and then reached out and took her back pack from her before turning away and beginning to walk off.

He got about six steps when his sharp ears picked up a soft irritated sounding sigh. Clueing him in on what the woman was mostly feeling at that very moment towards the 'secret' arrangement that he had made with Spider-man, and as concerning as that was- Black Bolt felt that once she had enough time- her current feelings of irritation (and quite possibly, anger) would inevitably ebb.

Until then the best thing he could do was give her a little bit of space while keeping a close eye on her.

Glancing back at her over his shoulder, he took in the way she moved in the snow behind him and paused in mid step when he found her struggling a bit with it's depth.

Looking down at the ground, he frowned as he measured his height as well as the snow's depth compared to Haruka's own and nearly rolled his eyes at his own oversight.

He was more than six foot four inches tall.

The snow was at least three feet deep, and Haruka was- by his estimate- five foot five. And the blasted snow reached almost above her waist, hindering her movements to follow him.

 _Why did I not notice this before?_ He wondered to himself as the turned and walked back over to her and leaned down a little bit and wrapped an arm around her tiny waist and lifted her up out of the little snow ditch that she had made while attempting to walk after him, and settled her in the crook of his other arm and began walking again as he made a mental note to have someone do something about the snow's depth so that next time he wouldn't have to worry about the helpless little female becoming lost somewhere in the blinding white.

Haruka was eerily silent throughout their short journey to his kingdom where once inside the barrier- Black Bolt carefully placed Haruka back on her feet again now that he no longer had to worry about losing her.

"Thanks." Haruka said, earning a slight nod from Black Bolt as he straightened his spine and then once again took her jacket sleeve between his fingers and gave a slight tug. Silently telling her once again to follow him.

He began walking again, noting this time that Haruka had no trouble keeping up with him.

The Kingdom of Attalin was an impressive sight for someone who had never been there or seen it before. Even more so if said person was a human since the Inhuman's tended to kill trespasser's on sight just to keep their home and their people safe.

From what Haruka had understood from Peter's 'lessons' about the place, the Inhuman's were a very ancient, powerful, wealthy and technologically advanced people ruled/protected by a royal family, and a small council of kingdom elders.

The laws were much like normal human laws.

You did not steal. You did not murder.

You must always show respect where respect is due. (Something that she hadn't been so good at as of yet due to her pissy attitude towards Peter) It was however something that she planned to rectify once she managed to calm herself the fuck down.

Marriage was a big deal with the Inhuman's.

Probably because their population had dwindled down to only three thousand and ten in the past five hundred years or so.

Fidelity was also a big deal.

Apparently while it was encouraged for the unattached to take lovers in the hopes of producing children, a husband/wife could not be unfaithful without suffering dire consequences.

Also- because it was rare for them to have healthy children that actually survived past a few weeks, having parents abuse and even abandon said child was also met with dire consequences.

Okay, so maybe they weren't exactly laws in the truest sense of the word. Instead they seemed to be more like _guidelines_ to live by. Which was fine. Everyone had their own way of doing things- that was understandable. And since she was the only human present within the kingdom then it wasn't exactly her place to judge how the Inhuman's did things.

Still...

The place was impressive with it's clean streets, outside market and small shops full of all kinds of goodies lining the main street and all around them were statues that possibly had historical relevance as well as possibly served as decorative.

The buildings were as tall as sky scrapers, and looked to be made either of some sort of metal alloy of carved crystal. Some of which shone so brightly that she almost felt the need to dig through her back pack to find her shades.

Seriously it was almost ridiculous the amount of sunlight that this place got. How were the trees not on fire? Hell how was it that the mountain itself wasn't on fire? Hadn't any of these people ever heard of the 'ant being set on fire by the magnifying glass' concept?

And then there was spontaneous combustion.

How had _that_ crap not happened yet? There were people dressed in weird baggy robe-like clothing all over the place.

Noting that Haruka was no longer following him, but instead standing in the middle of the street looking around almost anxiously Black Bolt took a moment to study her before trying to see why she appeared so anxious.

Signing out, _"Are you well?"_ He dropped his hands back to his sides and waited on her to reply. When she didn't he started to become a tad bit more concerned about what was going on with her when he recalled in Spider-man's previous message to him about her coming to stay with him, that Haruka suffered from severe PTSD and panic attacks.

It was just another reason why his young friend had wanted the female to come to Attalin and stay a while.

She needed to feel safe again from whatever demons were plaguing her heart and mind. Spider-man had stressed that she needed peace, quiet, safety and security to finish healing from her injuries. Though his young friend hadn't exactly told him in what way she was injured to suffer from such maladies.

But from what he was seeing, it was obvious that Spider-man had been right to worry for Haruka's physical and mental wellbeing.

Moving to her side quickly, he lightly grasped her small shoulders in his large hands and noted that her breathing pattern had changed from calm to hyperventilation.

If this continued she'd likely pass out from lack of air.

Seeing that she was too far gone to even attempt to reason with her, Black Bolt quickly wrapped an arm around her slender waist and dropped her back pack so that he could land a quick but well placed blow to the back of her neck rendering her temporarily unconscious.

She would awaken later with a headache, and would possibly be upset with him. But none of that mattered as long as she calmed again.

In the meantime he would take her to be checked out at the royal medical facility to see if there was anything that could be done for her PTSD and panic attacks to keep them under control. After he knew she was well enough to be moved, he would then take her to the guest quarters he had had prepared for her where he would sit and wait for her to wake so that he could show her around the room and assure himself that she would not enter the quarters attached to her own seeing as such a thing was taboo.

Especially since he had had to bend his own rules and make numerous concessions just for her to stay in the quarters he had placed her in since they were meant to be the private chambers of his future Queen.


	4. Chapter 4

Black Bolt sat beside the large bed where he had lain Haruka only an hour in a half ago, after having her looked at by his physicians, in a large wing backed chair with a small video monitor held in his hand doing some work. His neon blue eyes occasionally lifting from his work to glance at the human female's prone figure before he would frown for a moment and then look away again.

He had been secretly timing her on how long it would take for her to awaken and so far- and was beginning to wonder if rendering her unconscious earlier had been a good idea. Sure it had prevented the woman's condition from deteriorating and prevented her from passing out on him.

But should she really have been asleep for so long?

The damned woman was so deeply asleep that she hadn't even stirred once in all the time that had elapsed since being rendered unconscious. And even though he had opted to stay close to her just in case something else happened to her- time was passing quickly and even he could tell that night would be upon them in just another two or so hours.

Setting his work aside for the moment, he decided to make an attempt to use one of the programs that Spider-man had installed on his computer systems to see if he could look up more information on Haruka, though he doubted that he would really find anything.

Keying in her name, yielded no real results.

Big surprise there.

So instead he tried keying in a search on Spider-man and the siege on New York. And nearly dropped his hand held screen in shock at how much stuff suddenly popped up.

Deciding to read some of the articles first, Black Bolt used the better part of thirty minutes looking for whatever information he could find and after about thirty five minutes finally came across a video link that showed his young human friend and the young woman Haruka both fighting to protect a group of elders and some small children.

At one point Spider-man had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies and several of the elders and kids had joined in the brawl too in an attempt to save him. However it was Haruka's efforts that had saved his young friend from being killed.

She had gone from using hand to hand to using super human abilities akin to Spider-man's own.

Of course Spider-man himself had spoken of how he had gained his abilities and had even explained Haruka's part in everything when he had sent Black Bolt his message just last week. Still seeing the one responsible for making his friend a super human was still somewhat- well... _odd_.

Still, she had managed to not only save Spider-man while he was dazed and clinging to consciousness but she had saved everyone else too and ripped apart the enemy forces in a dazzling display of savagery.

But not before an alien device had bee attached to her and he had watched fascinated and horrified as the young woman's body was all but blown in half.

Stopping the video image so that he could study it, he took in the sight of Haruka's nearly destroyed body, her broken and twisted limbs, the missing organs and the rest that had spilled out of her as she had lain on the ground clinging to life by a mere hairs breath.

He found that he now understood a little bit more about why Spider-man had specifically asked _him_ to take care of her. Such injuries would be very, _very_ difficult to fully heal from even for someone with advanced healing abilities like his friend.

Why even when he had had her looked over by his physician's earlier- they had kept asking him puzzling questions about 'trauma' to her insides that he hadn't been able to answer. But now he understood.

He wasn't sure exactly how Haruka had managed to heal herself in such a short amount of time, but the fact that his physicians had asked him about the trauma that her body had suffered meant that she likely wasn't completely healed internally.

He would have to be very mindful of that fact if he didn't wish to fail in his endeavor to care for her as Spider-man had requested.

Any work she did for him would be light, minimal at best.

And she would be expressly forbidden from doing anything deemed dangerous to her. Which meant that he would be playing the part of her bodyguard for the duration of her stay. And when he couldn't- he would see to it that someone competent was with her in his stead.

Hopefully if he did this then it would keep the trouble that she would likely get into while present in his kingdom, to a minimum.

On the bed, Haruka shifted ever so slightly, drawing his neon blue gaze to her small form just in time for his ears to catch a slight groan escaping her lips.

Turning off the monitor in his hand so that she wouldn't be subjected to the reminder of the horror that she had suffered through during the siege, Black Bolt placed the item down on the table beside her bed as he slowly got out of his seat and moved himself over to sit on the edge of her bed as she began to stir a little bit more.

Her once calm expression becoming marred by a small frown as she seemed to struggle to wake.

Reaching out a hand, Black Bolt gently brushed back some of her dark hair from where it had slipped into her face as her eyes slowly began to flutter open.

"Mn? What happened?" She finally managed to ask as she finally opened her teal colored eyes. Black Bolt said nothing, he didn't even bother signing out a response since he doubted from the looks of her that she was either awake enough, or coherent enough to understand what he may or may not say anyways.

Instead he just sat there next to her, running his fingers through her hair in what he could only hope was a comforting/slightly apologetic gesture.

"M-My head hurts..." She finally groaned out as she tried to push herself upright only to fail. Apparently her body had been under far more strain than even his young friend Spider-man must have been aware of. A long rest should not have affected her body in such a way.

 _Could her healing ability be sapping more strength than she possessed?_ He wondered as he helped her sit upright and then carefully used one arm to keep her up while he fixed the pillows on the bed to his satisfaction and then propped her up against them and then sat back a little bit away from her so that she didn't feel overwhelmed by him.

"Sorry for the trouble." Haruka said after a heartbeat or two, her lovely eyes flickering to his face for a moment before she looked away again.

Black Bolt shook his head. The only real indication that he had been listening to her.

 _She. Did. Not. Have. To. Apologize. To. Him._

He understood all too well what super human healing abilities often did to a person whom had suffered a severe to mortal injury. And from what he had seen earlier on his monitor- Haruka's wounds had been almost beyond mortal. And while that did sort of spark his curiosity about just how super human her healing ability was, his questions would have to wait.

Right now he needed to make sure that Haruka ate something since the hour had grown quite late and then gave her her medication for pain (just in case) and then he would leave her to rest for the rest of the evening and check up on her again in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

A short time later-

Black Bolt had Haruka comfortably sitting at a medium sized wood table with a nicely prepared array of food and drinks set between them. Signing for her to go ahead and fix her plate, he watched her carefully so that he could take note of what she did and did not like food wise. Especially since the information would help him take care of her in the long run.

She moved slowly, almost shyly in his opinion. Which was peculiar considering that she hadn't worried about being shy when she had jabbed Spider-man in the throat earlier.

Now that she was alone with him however, despite his silence, she seemed almost painfully aware of him. In what copacity he could only hazard to guess.

Watching her carefully pick out which foods she wished to eat, he found it a little bit curious that she seemed to favor some of the vegetables over the perfectly seasoned and cooked meats.

Spider-man had mentioned something like this to him during his stay for the summer several months ago. Searching his memory, Black Bolt vaguely recalled the teen mentioning that some people liked vegetables more than meats. Some liked them so much so that they cut meats out of their daily diet altogether whereas some simply liked the extra vitamin intake.

Haruka seemed to be one of those people who seemed to like the extra vitamin intake.

Then again perhaps her diet had something to do with her healing ability? He wondered as he watched her eat, a small thoughtful, frown marring his handsome features. He'd have to send a message to Spider-man at some point to ask him about the specifics of her healing abilities and what exactly she needed to heal herself in a speedy manner since he seemed like he would have in depth knowledge about the matter.

Once he was sure that she had eaten enough, Black Bolt then helped her back over to the bed where he watched her practically fall asleep before her head even hit the pillow before he carefully tucked her in and then quietly left her to seek his own rest in his room next door.

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Haruka woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a raw, anguished scream- not realizing at first that the scream had come from her own throat until a few moments spent sitting upright in her bed, looking around the room she had been placed in for any traces of the threat that she had dreamt of.

Her blood sang in her veins, her heart thudded painfully against her ribs, her pale skin covered in a fine sheen of sweat as she sat there trying to catch her breath seeing as she had been so engrossed in her nightmare that she had accidentally began to starve her lungs of air.

Across the room, the door to her room quietly opened and a dark figure eased himself inside before quietly shutting the door behind him.

He'd been sleeping rather fitfully himself until he had heard the loud, pain filled scream that had come from his guest's room, and had quickly grabbed the nearest set of pants to pull on before he had come to check on her since he doubted that she would appreciate him showing up butt ass naked.

Human females were so weird that way.

Haruka sat in the middle of her large bed, her pale skin looking almost translucent in the wane moonlight, her dark hair clinging to the skin of her cheeks neck and shoulders in long dark, damp stringy looking strands.

Moving with the quiet ease of a predator, Black Bolt silently made his way over to the bed and sat down on the edge closest to her side, noting curiously that she had yet to acknowledge his presence.

Finally after what seemed like forever to him, but was probably in actuality only just a few moments, Haruka seemed to realize that she wasn't alone and turned her head just enough to peek at him through her long bangs. Her wide teal colored eyes taking in his appearance in the semi darkness.

Black Bolt was an attractive man, but then she had noticed that during the day while he had been wearing his form fitting black and silver winged suit. But without it- even under the cover of darkness- the man was devastatingly handsome with his oft tan skin, neon blue eyes, muscular body, and his chiseled jaw, and inky black hair that he kept short in the back and long-ish in the front.

 _"Are you well?"_ He signed and waited for her to respond. He worried that the scream that had woken him may have been the result of some injury that hadn't quite healed just yet. In fact from the way she had screamed, it seemed more likely that perhaps she had accidentally hurt herself while she had slept.

Though he couldn't _scent_ or _see_ any trace of blood or bruising aside from what she'd already had when she had been dropped off by Spider-man yesterday. He could however almost taste the strangely metallic taste of fear in the air around her, though he didn't know and couldn't sense what it was that had her so frightened.

Nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement of his question, Haruka didn't bother trying to speak since she didn't exactly trust her voice not to squeak or sound weak and shaky just then. Black Bolt shifted slightly on the bed, his body drawing closer to her own until he was practically looming over her.

His large body crowding her own as he reached out and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his body as he stretched out on the bed and tucked her body as tightly against his own as he dared.

Since he knew that she had lied about being okay, this had seemed the only way that either of them would get any rest. He anticipated a possible struggle from her before she actually settled down again, and was only slightly disappointed when she didn't so much as move a muscle and simply allowed him to do as he pleased.

 _How odd._ He thought to himself as he wound his fingers through the dark curtain of her silken hair almost absently as Haruka tilted her head slightly to look at him in the dark as he made himself as comfortable as possible and tucked the top of her head under his chin and began to close his eyes when he heard her hushed voice ask, "What are you doing?"

Lowering his mouth to her ear he let out the smallest breath-like sound he possibly could. Telling her what he wished of her with the barest of effort as he breathed, _"Shhh."_ After which he again closed his eyes and hoped that she would follow his example.

And was only the slightest bit irritated when she heeded his wish for silence but didn't return to sleep right away. Choosing instead to remain awake for several hours longer before finally dozing off again around dawn.


	6. Chapter 6

Consciousness was slow coming for Black Bolt, despite the fact that some stray rays of blinding sunlight were shining in his eyes the next morning when he began to wake. And since the sun was making it difficult for him to see, he had to use his other senses.

One of which was scent.

Breathing deeply, it took a moment for him to realize that his room didn't smell like him. In fact his room didn't smell like him at all. It smelt like something light and sweet with a touch of spice to it. Confusion seeped into his brain as he attempted to open his eyes only to hiss in pain when he was temporarily blinded.

Causing him to jerk his body almost completely onto his side before he noticed that he had partially dragged something with him when he had jerked. Blinking his neon blue eyes open again, he lifted his head up off of the pillow his head had been resting on to see what it was that he had dragged with him, only to frown slightly when he noted that there was a female in his bed.

No wait- he was clutching said female like a drowning man clutched at a life line- no wait, that wasn't entirely accurate either. While it was more or less true that he was clutching the unknown female to him, apparently reluctant to relinquish his hold on her, he had taken the time to note several other things as well.

1) He wasn't actually in his room.

The color of the walls must have given his location away since there was only one room in all his palace where the walls were a combination of aqua, neon blue (like his eyes), and lilac.

The Queen's chambers?

 _Since when had I taken up sleeping in here?_ He wondered as he glanced down at the small body of the female.

And 2) The female in question- She was a rather delicate little thing. Far too delicate for him. And from her height and build alone, he could already tell that she couldn't possibly be an inhuman like himself.

The females of his species tended to be taller and a bit...sturdier built.

This female felt as if she were so delicate that he could snap her in two by just trying to untangle his fingers from her long dark tresses.

Oh, but her hair felt like silk wound around his fingertips. He thought to himself before shaking his head slightly to clear his mind as he worked to untangle his fingers without realizing that while he did so, he had placed his free hand on the woman's shapely rear and was lightly, almost loveingly stroking it for a moment or two.

Careful not to make any sudden moves once his hand was free, Black Bolt began to sit up slowly and became ever so slightly alarmed when the woman more or less wound up face down in his lap.

Eyes widened to the size of saucers, he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood as he began to reach out to slip his newly freed hand under the woman so that he could roll her off of him before he developed a more than sizable 'little' problem.

Especially since he didn't think she would care much for relieving him of his 'little' problem.

Finally after a moment or so of floundering a bit, he managed to roll the still sleeping female off of him so that she lay on her back next to him. Giving him his first real look at her, or at least enough to jog his memory.

 _Haruka._

The name slithered through his mind, unbidden, yet awestruck as he recalled events from yesterday all the way up until last night when he had come to check on her after she had had a night terror and had wound up staying with her to provide her with a sense of comfort.

Something that the vexing woman obviously lacked during the waking hours if the fact that he had been clinging to her was any indication at all.

Shaking his head ever so slightly, he reached out and lightly smoothed her dark hair back away from her sleeping face and nearly jumped out of his skin when she turned her head so that her lips brushed his palm, sending a jolt of awareness through him as he jerked his hand back away from her and merely sat there watching her for a moment. Unsure of what else he should do right then.

It wasn't very often that he was aware of females as well, actual females. In fact he spent a majority of his time simply trying to ignore them since most of them were power hungry and simply wanted to be with him because of his position as the king of Attalin.

But Haruka...in her presence he was all too aware of her as a female.

He didn't know or understand the reasons why that was, but it was the simplest truth. One that gained his attention all too easily especially now while she slept.

She had looked vulnerable when they had first met yesterday. A far cry from the person that Spider-man had told him about and now- he wondered how it was even possible for that damned feeling of vulnerability around her to be magnified.

Was it because she was unwell? Or simply resting? He wondered as he studied her for several more heartbeats before leaning over her, one arm braced on the bed next to her head as he lowered himself down till almost a hairs breath of space was between them and let out a low rumbling sound akin to a purr as she stirred slightly.

He was about to move away and leave, when the unthinkable happened.

The damned woman's arms shot up and wrapped around him and pulled him down enough for her to lay a nice kiss on him before falling away again as he jerked himself away as she turned over onto her side, still asleep.

Glaring down at her for a moment, Black Bolt let out a small huff of irritation and was about to get up to leave when he realized something. He had between the time that he had awakened and now developed a 'little' problem from a semi state of arousal.

 _Oh dear gods- kill me now._ He thought as he face palmed before peeking at the vexing source of his issue from between his fingers.

It would be convenient to make use of Haruka's...er- charms to relieve himself of his problem.

Convenient, but troublesome since the backlash from doing so would likely drive him mad if his baser instincts took over. But he couldn't exactly ignore his problem, especially since Haruka was the one who had sparked the issue.

She wouldn't be safe if he lost himself to his instincts since his kind tended to get rather intensely amorous towards the one they wanted. And if lost to his baser instincts he would become rather volatile and dangerous until his needs were sated.

So no, he couldn't just ignore it.

Growling low in his throat, Black Bolt took a moment to try and think of what to do. Haruka was human for fuck's sake! An injured, ivory skinned goddess with a wonderfully curved body- _Wow_ but any previous thoughts of possibly using his hand to find relief just wasn't that appealing to him anymore.

Not when he had a perfectly good female lying next to him on the bed. Come to think of it- it had been a while since he had stopped ignoring the females and bothered to take one to his bed? Like a long while. Possibly ten years or so. He had sort of lost track of time with all the work he had had to do as king.

But he surmised that ten years was about right. Give or take.

Climbing back onto the bed he sat next to Haruka for a moment and scowled at her for being so oblivious to his plight when it was her friggin fault that he was in such a state to begin with. Sighing, he figured that he would test the waters a bit to see how receptive she would be to his attentions. He doubted that he should really wake her though, since her body would probably be more honest than her mind would be at this point.

And if at any time she managed to awaken and push him away- he would respect her wishes and leave...but he wouldn't be totally responsible for what may occur if he didn't get what he needed by the days end.

Rolling the small woman over onto her back, Black Bolt leaned over her a lightly pressed a kiss to her forehead before pressing on to lay small feather light kisses along her cheeks and the corners of her tantalizing mouth before seeking to press his lips to her own.

The next jolt that went through him the second his lips touched hers was much like a jolt of lightening. It made the hairs on the nape of his neck stand up and a chill run down his spine as his stomach clenched against the sudden spark of lust that hit him almost painfully.

Fisting his hands in the bed sheets on either side of Haruka's body to keep from touching her and taking even more liberties than he already was, Black Bolt was more than a little shocked after a moment or two when she began to kiss him back.

Her actions shy and tentative, nearly fraying his ironlike control as a small sound escaped her. Nearly causing him to rip the bed sheets apart as she stirred slightly and raised her hands to push at the wall of his chest.

It wasn't enough to forcibly move him, seeing as it was such a small push, but Black Bolt understood it's meaning well enough to pull away and leave her be. Besides he now knew that she was receptive to him, even if she wasn't aware of that fact herself. And he would make excellent use of that knowledge later on once she was healed.

Quickly making his way over to the door, he quietly opened it and took a moment to look back at her before calmly slipping out.

He needed to do something with himself for the next few hours, and last he checked there were human poachers close to his kingdom. Perhaps a little run through some waist deep snow after a gaggle of humans would help calm the fire now burning in his blood.

He would return to check on Haruka later in the day. Until then, he'd just let her sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, Babykitsune-9 here.**

 **If anyone is confused about anything that I'm posting, the reasons behind my work or lack-there-of has to do with the death of my adopted mother Velma. She passed away on the 13th and we buried her Sunday.**

 **And while I'm sort of okay with the fact that she isn't here anymore due to how much agony she had to be in with her breast cancer, kidney failure, and of course the broken ribs she got when she was given CPR at the hospital- she _was_ my mom. **

**And I loved her very much.**

 **So I'll write while I can form a coherent sentence, but after that I'll be taking a break for a little bit. My breaks usually aren't long since I'm on Fanfic everyday regardless of whether I'm writing and posting stuff or not.**

 **So here's this chapter. Enjoy.**

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Two hours after Black Bolt had left the room, Haruka finally woke up and was going about her usual morning ritual. Which this morning also happened to include a shower since she hadn't had the time to really bathe the night before with Black Bolt sort of hanging around.

Rolling out of bed, she walked across the room to the intricately carved dresser where she had unpacked the few clothes that she had brought with her along with a couple of books and some snacks from back home. And after several seconds of digging around in the first and second drawers, she managed to finally fish out a pair of clean panties and matching bra, a clean shirt and pair of shorts.

Once that was done, she grabbed one of the hair clips that she had packed from the top of the dresser and then walked into the bathroom and partially shut the door in her haste to get herself clean before Black Bolt returned.

The bathroom was a real piece of work.

Unlike the conventional inside showers and baths, Attalin's royal bathing chambers consisted of natural hot springs and clear crystalin pools lined with shelves of what looked like crystal bottles of...stuff?

"What the hell?" Haruka muttered to herself as she took a moment to check out the shelves again.

Finding it just a little bit weird that each crystal bottle was either blue or pale purple. It took her more than a few seconds to realize that she was looking at various scented soaps, shampoos and oils meant to clean and condition and soften a person's hair.

Placing her clean clothing on a countertop where the sink was located, she then walked over to one of the shelves and picked up a blue crystal bottle and a purple one and took a moment to sniff both before finally understanding that the blue ones likely contained something for the males of the palace while the purple were the most pleasing scents for the females.

Taking another few minutes to sort through the various scents, she found one or two that she didn't mind quite so much. They weren't too overwhelmingly sweet or floral which made them ideal for possible use. So once she had them set aside, she stripped out of her clothing and without much else thought, slipped into one of the hot springs.

The water within the spring was deep.

Almost too deep for her feet to touch bottom which meant that a majority of the people who had used the spring had to have been like super tall. Otherwise they probably would have drowned like she almost had just now. Haruka thought to herself as she huffed a little bit before managing to locate a large stone lip a few feet away and then maneuvered herself over to it.

Once there, she was able to sit on it without much fear since the water only reached her shoulders here. Letting out a sigh, she leaned back against the side of the bath and closed her eyes so that she could relax for a few moments before she tried that soap stuff she had found.

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Black Bolt sat back in the water, his body was relaxed for what felt like the first time in eons. He had yet to come down from that feeling of euphoria that one felt after reaching their peak. So naturally he didn't realize that he wasn't alone in the baths anymore until he heard the faint sound of humming coming from just around the rock that he was using to rest on and against.

Upon hearing humming, Black Bolt's curious nature seemed to get the best of him and he slid himself off of the rock that he'd been sitting on so that he was standing in the water, his height giving him some extra leeway so that he only had to crane his neck just so and was able to see into the bigger, more open side of the spring where he could plainly see a small-ish dark headed person rubbing some soap into pale slender arms and-

The second he saw breasts, he quickly ducked down behind his hiding place, his neon eyes wide as his heart pounded frantically in his chest. _Holy shit- What the- How did- Wow_. For once in his extremely long life, Black Bolt felt more than at a loss. He hadn't meant to spy on Spider-man's friend Haruka.

In fact he rarely spied on anyone with the exceptions of his cousins when bathing. But that was only because they got pissed at him when he didn't look at them.

And frankly the damage to his palace wasn't worth the aggravation of _not_ looking. Though he didn't enjoy doing so. It was considered dishonorable to look upon others in their most vulnerable state.

However now that he had seen Haruka...without clothing...he decided to go ahead and look again. Cautiously of course. It would be pointless to get himself caught and have the female chuck something at his head. Especially since the last time a female had done so- he had been a mere lad.

The object that the female had thrown at him, had been thrown with enough strength to render him unconscious and face down in the water where he might have drowned if one of his older cousin's hadn't fished him out.

Attempting to try and control his heartbeat and breathing as he peered over the top of the rock at Haruka's back, Black Bolt took a minute to admire the beauty of her form. For something so small, she certainly left him breathless. Truly, she was a sight. But then that was before he noticed the myriad of scars that littered almost every inch of her shoulders, upper and lower arms, back and thighs.

Why there were even scars on the soles of her feet! It was just terrible. Narrowing his neon blues at the sight of every line, every slash and cut, every puckered hole Black Bolt gritted his teeth and made a silent oath.

That nothing and no one would ever place another scar upon Haruka's frail body.


	8. Chapter 8

As much as Black Bolt wanted to say that once Haruka was gone from the bath, he scampered off to parts unknown- to hide himself away for a little while. He didn't. It was just almost physically impossible for him to do so and simply leave the woman unattended. Which- apart from seeing her naked- was going to make things incredibly awkward for him. However, he tended to be able to hide things better, _emotionally_ , than most.

Partially because of his impassive expression and partially because he couldn't speak to give himself away.

Which is why once he had slunk out of the bath, dried off and dressed, he found himself standing quietly outside of the Queen's chambers, waiting for Haruka to dress and make herself presentable so that he could enter and take her around the palace.

Figuring that if he was going to keep up the ruse that Spider-man had provided for him, he should at least show Haruka around the palace and show her where she could and could not go whenever he wasn't around. Plus he needed to introduce her to some of his guards so that they would know that she wasn't an enemy.

He'd hate to leave her once, and return home to find her either imprisoned or dead because of his oversight. Finally after what seemed like forever to him, he started to raise his hand to knock- when the door suddenly clicked and opened a tad.

Dropping his hand back to his side, he cautiously eased the door open a little bit more with his index finger and peered inside of the room.

Haruka was sitting on the bed, wearing a black button down, long sleeved shirt and a pair of mid thigh length denim shorts and a pair of black leather flats with small, two inch heels.

Her long dark hair was still damp from bathing, and was neatly brushed and pulled back away from her face, neck and shoulders, and tied back. Leaving only a few wisps here and there to hang in her eyes and caress her softly blushing pink cheeks.

"Morning." She said as she looked up and noticed him standing there as if in a trance of some kind. He blinked his neon blue eyes at her and did this weird little finger wave in greeting.

She supposed that she should say something about the fact that she could vaguely recall him crawling into her bed with her in the early morning hours, but after a moment or so- decided to leave him alone about it. It wasn't like he had actually done any harm or anything.

He had merely been attempting to comfort her after she had woken up screaming from her nightmare. Still, if it happened again she'd probably have to see about locking her bedroom door from now on.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" She asked curiously, as he entered the room further and walked over to where she was sitting and held up a finger that started to glow a light blue color before he then reached out and placed his fingertip against her forehead causing a strange feeling akin to vertigo to wash over her a moment or so before she heard a male voice in her head.

 _"Can you hear me?"_

"Yes." She said somewhat warily, wondering if the voices she usually heard in her head were back again. And apparently more coherent than ever.

The masculine voice sounded amused as it spoke to her again. _"You do not have to vocally reply if you do not wish to. Though I do appreciate your effort to try and communicate with me. And no, I am not a more coherent voice in your head. I am me."_

"Okay...me..." Haruka said with a small frown, obviously still having not caught on to the fact that Black Bolt was the one speaking to her, causing him to laugh slightly at her expense. She was simply too adorable. He thought to himself as she suddenly asked, "Why are you in my head? And are we absolutely sure that I'm not insane? I've been known to hear voices before."

 _"Oh? So I have to compete with other disembodied voices for your undivided attention then?"_

"I should hope not. The others are just plain annoying. At least you seem sane enough to carry on a decent conversation with." Haruka muttered to herself. Seemingly forgetting that Black Bolt was even in the room with her. His amusement faded somewhat, as he made a mental note to _contact_ Spiderman and ask him about her perchance for hearing disembodied things since it was obviously something that many humans frowned upon.

 _"Come. You need to eat something so that I may begin taking you to explore the palace today."_

"Oh, okay..." Haruka said before climbing off of the bed before she seemed to realize what the voice had just said and then turned on him and said with wide eyes, "Hey! I don't appreciate people doing stuff to my head!" Causing him to blink at her for a moment before cracking a rogue-ish grin as he brushed by her small form and headed for the door.


End file.
